This new technology could help enforce the '3-foot law' and prevent drivers from hitting cyclists

Daniel McMahonJun 10, 2015, 01:03 IST

timesfreepress.comThis image shows a driver passing a police officer on a bike closer than Tennessee's three-foot law allows. New technology from BSMART shows the distance between the car and the bike in inches.

Anyone who has ever ridden a bicycle in traffic knows that scary feeling when a car or truck or bus passes too closely.

Now there's a new technology that can potentially help prevent drivers from getting too close to cyclists - and from hitting them.

It's called BSMART, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the first city in the US, and possibly the world, to test it, the Times Free Press reports.

The Chattanooga Police Dept. bike patrols have been using BSMART, a device that uses ultrasound waves to calculate the distance between bikes and passing cars, to help them enforce Tennessee's three-foot law, the paper said.

The law requires motorists to give bicycles at least three feet of clearance when passing, the paper reported. A violation is a Class C misdemeanor.

Laws in Tennessee and more than 20 other states require motorists to give cyclists no less than 36 inches of clearance when passing. [Officer] Simmons says most people he stops have never heard of the "three-foot law." That's why, instead of handing unwitting offenders a ticket, he hands them a pamphlet.

"The goal is not to write tickets," Simmons says. "The goal is to educate motorists."

Police departments from across the US have been calling Simmons asking about the technology, he said. Most people he's stopped have reportedly been appreciative for the information about the law.

According to bicycle-law expert Bob Mionske, yes, because the rule helps raise awareness:

When drivers know what the law is, they can understand what is expected of them. Will some drivers continue to make unsafe passes? Sure. But some drivers will adjust their passing to comply with the law, and that will mean safer passes every time they pass a cyclist.

As you can see below, the bike cop's handlebar has an ultrasonic rangefinder sensor, the BSMART device with display, alarm buzzer, and capture reset button, and a GoPro camera to record it all.